The War on Medicaid

Paul Krugman rightly summarizes the end result of the right wing’s war on the Affordable Care Act, particularly the Medicaid expansion: the denial of essential health care to millions of needy Americans is an “act of cruelty.”

In every other developed country, health care is a basic human right. In the United States, conservative ideology preaches “freedom” of the poor to suffer from poor health rather than benefit from a federal health insurance program.

This doesn’t sound like “compassionate conservatism” and wasn’t one of the four freedoms articulated by President Franklin D. Roosevelt that people of the world should enjoy.

Is this what is meant by American exceptionalism?

JAY N. FELDMANPort Washington, N.Y., Oct. 21, 2013

A version of this letter appears in print on October 22, 2013, on Page A22 of the New York edition with the headline: The War on Medicaid. Today's Paper|Subscribe